The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 — 2A
Journalist Jon Cohen spoke
about methods to curb the
stigma
behind
HIV/AIDS
Tuesday evening in an event
that was part of the Pulitzer
Center’s
collaboration
with
the
Communication
Studies
Department.
About
20 University of Michigan
students and faculty attended
the
event,
where
Cohen
especially covered efforts to
end AIDS in Africa and the
United States.
With
funding
from
the
Pulitzer Center, Cohen created
a project of several stories that
examine attempts across the
United States and parts of
Africa to reduce the spread of
and eradicate HIV/AIDS. The
talk is part of the initiative of
the Pulitzer Center’s initiative
to support journalists and
bring them to the University to
present their work.
In his presentation, Cohen,
who
works
for
Science,
expressed
his
belief
that
mainstream
media
have
largely forgotten about HIV.
Cohen explained that this is
because a fear of infectious
disease
largely
drives
the
public, and media outlets serve
the interests of the public.
However,
Cohen
reminded
the audience that there are
37 million people infected
globally, with approximately 2
million people newly infected
each year.
While
Cohen
supports
the
Joint
United
Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS’s
goal of reaching 90-90-90 —
90 percent of people who have
the disease know they are
infected, 90 percent of people
seek health care, 90 percent
of people are on antiretroviral
drugs
—
he
emphasized
this goal has not been met.
According to Cohen, just 11
million out of the 37 million
people infected have all three
goals achieved.
From
Cohen’s
travels
around
the
world
and
observations of attempts to
reduce the transmission of
HIV, he noted there are some
critical post-infection efforts
that can be done to reduce the
transmission.
Cohen
cited
having
an
advocate
for
individual
patients to encourage them or
count their pills are two of the
ways Cohen believes can help
end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“Every
place
that
has
remarkable success has one
individual who takes charge
and says, ‘This is on me,’ ”
Cohen said. “The other thing is
self-criticism, is being able to
look others squarely in the eye
and say, ‘We’re failing here.’ ”
Cohen believes preventative
measures are just as important
as
treating
those
living
with
the
infection.
Cohen
emphasized what he believes
to be the importance of at-risk
men and women to receive and
take pre-exposure prophylaxis
drugs, which are used to
prevent the contraction of
disease in people who have not
yet been exposed.
Business graduate student
Julian Smyth echoed Cohen’s
belief that more at-risk people
should be taking PrEP drugs
and shared his reasons for
taking the drugs himself.
“I’m a single, gay man;
I
don’t
think
that
I’m
particularly at risk, but I think
that’s one of the issues people
have with PrEP,” Smyth said.
“I think one of the other issues
is that people who can afford
to take it are people who are
insured; it tends to be people
who are more educated, who
know about it. So we’re not the
ones who are necessarily at the
most risk.”
While Smyth may be correct
about the types of people who
have access to PrEP drugs,
Cohen emphasized that HIV
does not only affect those
living in poverty.
“Yes, it is a disease of
poverty, but it’s also a disease
of wealth,” Cohen said.
Cohen
explained
while
there are people infected from
many different socioeconomic
backgrounds, those who are
marginalized in society — be it
from race, gender, sexuality or
social class — are the ones who
face the most stigma.
Cohen mentioned a town
in Zimbabwe where there is a
monthly “drug day,” or a day
where everyone in the village
gets tested for HIV. In this
system, community members
know of one another’s HIV
status, and there is a stigma
for those who do not get
tested.
According to Cohen, there
should be more discussion
surrounding HIV/AIDS and
he hopes his research will
contribute to an increased
focus around the disease and
those infected by it.
“I love giving voices to
people,” Cohen said. “The
scientific term for these groups
of people is ‘marginalized’
— the real word is ‘hated.’
They’re hated in many parts of
the world, and I like to show
their humanity.”
Journalist Jon Cohen talks methods
to curb HIV/AIDS stigma, prevalence
The presentation focused on the need to redirect attention to the issue
RACHEL LEUNG
Daily Staff Reporter
HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily
Brian Dunnigan, Curator of Maps at the William L. Clements Library, uses images of original maps to describe the Universtiy of Michigan in the
1800’s in Hatcher Gallery on Tuesday.
M APPING MICHIGAN
Dunnigan also highlighted
the
presence
of
Native
American tribes on Michigan
land, and their resistance of
the encroachment of settlers
beginning in the 1750s. This
resistance, along with struggles
obtaining
previously
owned
British territory, were factors
influencing the United States’s
endeavors
in
procuring
Michigan land.
University
alum
Lejla
Bajgoric, who attended the event,
explained she was interested in
hearing how the presentation
would highlight this aspect
of
U.S.
history,
specifically
with
euphemisms
regarding
acquisition of territory from
Native American tribes.
“At the founding of Michigan
there’s still this huge Native
American population, so I was
interested in how that would
be spoken about,” she said.
“When you want to talk about
developments and progress, how
do you reconcile that with the
fact that you are displacing and
forcibly removing people from
the land?”
One of the most prominent
topics in the presentation was
Mackinac Island, presently a
popular tourist destination in the
Straits of Mackinac. Dunnigan
explained Mackinac, originally
purchased by the British in 1781
and garnered by U.S. control
several years later, was known
for its natural wonders from
the beginning. In its early days
of settlement, the island went
from holding 300 people in
the winters to accommodating
3,000 in the summers.
“The place had a very early
reputation for being scenic,”
he said. “A visitor in 1816 says,
‘The first view of this interesting
island justified the experience
and the expectation it had
incited.’ ”
Information fifth-year senior
Monica
Chen
attended
the
lecture and said she felt the
presentation’s coverage of the
different methods by which the
United States collected territory
was very interesting.
“I’m
not
actually
from
Michigan, so I think it was really
cool to get a look into a town that
is not on the coast, but it actually
kind of is on the northern coast
and it borders Canada, and just
how important and influential
waterways are in development
of places,” she said.
At the conclusion of the
presentation, Dunnigan spoke
of the Reading Room, one of
the
most
historic
locations
within
Clements
Library,
where most of the information
and
photographs
from
the
presentation came from.
“I think our readers and our
visitors find the place friendly,
interesting and worth reading
about,” he said.
HISTORY
From Page 1A
of reducing global average new-
vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 percent
by 2050,” Eric Krotkov, chief science
officer at TRI, stated in a University
Record article about the research.
To create a more effective
battery, the team will work to
combine artificial intelligence with
the physics of materials, which will
eventually enable them to predict
material properties, Gavini said.
“We are solving equations at
smaller scales and then we are
collecting a lot of data on a small
scale and then we are using artificial
intelligence to figure out how is
the materials of physics at that
particular scale and then passing
it on to the next scale,” Gavini said.
“The hope is that eventually, if we
do this the right way, then we will be
able to predict material properties.”
Duraisamy
noted
the
significance
of
simulations
in
determining material properties,
noting the use of the laws of physics
and data can make the simulations
more effective.
“The goal is to run more accurate
simulations, and to run more
accurate simulations you combine
physical laws with data,” he said.
The simulations used in the
research will include the ConFlux
cluster, a computing platform
that combines simulations with
data sets to increase the speed of
material development.
Duraisamy
believes
the
simulations will complement the
experimentation,
allowing
the
research to be more effective.
“If you run the simulation, you
can get any property you want,
anywhere you want,” he said.
Duraisamy
also
said
the
simulations
will
make
the
experimentation more expansive.
“If you can use physical laws
along with data, then we can make
these simulations much more
affordable and realistic,” he said.
Gavini
said
he
appreciated
the
investment,
specifically
acknowledging the TRI’s emphasis
on fundamental research that can
expand across multiple disciplines.
“The Toyota Research Institute
is actually funding fundamental
science problems, which is very
unlike what may happen to other
industrial
investments
in
the
University,” Gavini said. “They are
not hesitant to take from high-risk
problems and I think that’s very
good for the University, because
at the University we work on such
problems.”
Duraisamy
echoed
the
importance
of
emphasizing
fundamental research, stating it
enables more widespread results.
“There
are
many
different
aspects to this, and since we
are doing basic or fundamental
research, the implications can be
across the board,” he said.
The TRI also invested in research
projects at Stanford University,
the
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology,
the
University
at
Buffalo,
the
University
of
Connecticut and Ilika, a United
Kingdom-based material science
company.
Gavini
recognizes
the
importance
of
the
project,
acknowledging the benefits to the
University.
“This is a significant investment
that Toyota is making in the
University of Michigan and in our
group, and this will continue going
forward,” he said. “Hopefully it will
be a successful project and we will
have a very fruitful collaboration
with these guys down the line.”
TOYOTA
From Page 1A
In
1970,
the
GEO
was
established at the University
of Michigan, though it was not
certifieduntil
1974,
and
was
among the first graduate student
unions in the United States.
Silbertstein discussed how the
era’s political climate fueled the
formation of the union.
“We
could
demonstrate
because anything we got could
be taken away, so we organized,”
Silbertstein said. “I think it’s
always true that there’s the
question of ‘Are people moving?’
In order to get what you want,
actions must be taken and you
have to win hearts and minds.”
The GEO, as an organizing
group, sought to make its voices
and demands heard. According
to Silbertstein, many TAs and
GSIs who were organizing at the
time had their roots in the civil
rights movement and Vietnam
War protests. Their tactics were
grounded in leaflets with satirical
tones and picketing.
It was not until 1975 that the
GEO movement held a month-
long strike and secured its
first contract. The GEO was
demanding fair wages, improved
working
conditions
and
nondiscrimination. The strike
had a lasting implication and,
according to Schneider, carried
both symbolic and instrumental
victories.
“We talk about the strike and
the importance of the solidarity,”
Schneider said. “To me, one of the
main reasons we won that one
is because we have picket lines
up and other unions refused to
cross those lines. In particular,
the Teamster Union stopped
the Biology Department from
picking up its trash, (and it) lost
a lot of federal money too. This
teamwork with the Teamsters
Union was a critical element in
winning the strike.”
Krinitsky
brought
the
conversation to the present by
placing the current situation
of the GEO in the broader
labor movement and discussed
the future of campus labor
organizing.
“When graduate students are
mounting a contract campaign,
they’re not just asking for wages,”
Krinitsky
said.
“Often
that’s
an argument that we get at the
bargaining table. Our members
are really motivated by questions
of equity. They care about the
marginalized population among
our membership and care about
ensuring their protections.”
This year, the GEO aims to
secure another contract, the first
of which to be under the right-to-
work laws, laws which prohibit
people from being compelled to join
a labor union. Krinitsky said during
the event that the current platform
is ambitious and focuses heavily
on diversity, equity and inclusion,
paralleling
the
University’s
initiative.
“We are focused on diversity,
equity and inclusion, words that are
really affiliated with U of M, you
can’t really go anywhere without
hearing them,” he said. “Well, when
we were forming our campaign we
wanted to have the University put
its money where its mouth is when
it comes to these topics.”
School of Information student
Vidhya Aravind said in an earlier
interview
that
she
currently
works part time on the University
Library’s
implementation
team
for
the
DEI
initiative.
Aravind said these positions are
demanding, justifying demands for
compensation on par with other
graduate positions.
“I
think
it’s
important
to
recognize that diversity labor is
labor,” she said.” It takes a lot of
effort, a lot of time, a lot of energy
and a lot of expertise.”
GEO
From Page 1A
industries of the future,” Pomfret
said. “You look at biopharma,
aerospace, industrial advanced
engineering. They’re devoting
huge amounts of money to these
areas, whereas Trump is trying
to reopen coal mines, pushing
back EPA regulations, changing
mile per gallon statistics so we’ll
be able to help out factories in the
heartland. So his priorities, in a
way, are priorities that basically
focus on the economy that the
United States had in the 1950s,
whereas China wants to create a
21st-century economy.”
An hour at the end of the
lecture
was
reserved
for
questions, and many audience
members were curious about
the upcoming elections in South
Korea and the effect the current
animosity toward immigrants
could have on the education of
Chinese immigrants in America.
This last point follows the
Detroit News op-ed from the
presidents of three Michigan
Universities,
including
University
President
Mark
Schlissel. The letter emphasized
the importance of standing by
our international students.
“Students
from
different
places also help our campuses
better reflect the global diversity
our graduates are expected to
understand, and they enhance
the quality of our teaching and
research,” they wrote.
Pomfret
shared
a
similar
sentiment,
and
found
the
potential of growing animosity
toward
immigrants
to
be
detrimental to the United States.
“As
the
anti-immigration
policy builds up, if that is
successful, obviously it’s going
to smack all foreigners in the
United States who are getting
their education here,” Pomfret
said.
Pomfret said with Trump
as president, the United States
is moving toward a dangerous
position of isolation.
“By becoming America first,
we turn around and we’ve got
nobody behind us,” Pomfret
said. “The United States became
a superpower because we had
friends, but now we’re actually
increasingly like China. China
doesn’t
have
many
friends
either.”
CHINA
From Page 1A
media of spoken word, singing,
storytelling and even a piece
played on the piano.
LSA
freshman
Ayah
Kutmah kicked off the event
with a short personal essay,
stressing the role of her hijab
in defining her identity and
her constant battle with the
common
perception
that
it
oppresses
her.
Kutmah
outlined the ways in which
she learned to conform to
society in her earlier years,
but also recognized how she
has grown as confident hijab-
wearing woman, especially at
the University.
“I define my journey with
my hijab as a personal rebellion
against society, one that is on
me to define my own identity
on my own terms,” she said.
“The point I want to make is
this: I do not allow the hijab to
limit me, so why do you?”
LSA
senior
Maham
Shaikh performed her poem
“Personifying Islamophobia,”
illustrating
the
varying
experiences
of
Muslims.
She
highlighted
that
even
though she does not wear the
headscarf,
she
experiences
Islamophobia as a presence she
deals with daily. In a symbolic
gesture, she ripped a paper
with the word “Islamophobia,”
displaying her triumph over
this battle.
Following
Shaikh,
University
alum
Amir
Kamouneh gave a personal
statement
to
the
audience
about the importance of events
like these in strengthening
people in this world, amid
current political turmoil and
war. He experiencing things
in his home country of Iran,
such as the Iranian revolution,
to the 9/11 terrorist attack and
current politics. He said he has
found there is always a good
side to support.
“I’m proud that you came
out to say no to hate, whether
you’re Muslim or non-Muslim,
it takes character in today’s
world to say no to easy
scapegoating, to easy blame,”
he said.
LSA freshman Arwa Gayar
followed
with
a
spoken
word poem expressing her
frustration at the lack of
ethnicity checkbox for Arabs
in the University application.
“I don’t think you can limit
my culture to the color of
my skin,” she said. “I don’t
think the option of ‘other’ is
representative of my kin. Am
I not important enough for my
very own box? Tell me to write
in whatever because ‘we don’t
see color’ — I will not act as
another diversity buffer. I will
take up space.”
Following
the
event,
University
alum
Misha
Shaikh said it made her feel
strengthened and supported
in her Muslim identity.
“It brings back a lot of
emotions of my experiences
with
Islamophobia,
and
the
hatred
that
Muslims
experience,”
she
said.
“However, it was also very fun
and relaxing, so it was kind of
a mix.”
MONOLOGUES
From Page 1A
I define my
journey with my
hijab as a personal
rebellion against
society